Thruum Kor'ush
"Damnit, Symmachus." ''---''Voporal to'' Symmachus Drisdhaun ''"You love him! You hate him! You need him! The Sand Dervish! The Eye Snatcher! Now entering the arena, the Supreme Gladiator! VOPORAL!" ''-''An announcer in the Coryn's Arena, referring to Thruum After his betrayal and subsequent defeat by Verstaadt Grummer, Thruum was sold into the service of the Coryn's Arena as a gladiator. Allowed only to keep his favored blade he fought many succesful battles and adopted what would later be his signature martial style, reffered to the by crowds of fans at the arena as the "Vorpal Blade Style". Due to a combination of his brutal precision and his popularity with the frequent spectators, he earned the rank of "Supreme Gladiator", and had been given the moniker "Voporal" (A common mispronunciation of his followers) in the year 1760 AGC, the fastest rise in the storied arena's legacy. In the year 1769 AGC he seized an oppurtunity to escape in the form of a riot just outside the arena's walls. Acting quickly, he rallied the nearly 50 other gladatorial slaves and destroyed the garrison of guards protecting the arena, and led them to freedom in the surrounding badlands. Rise to Glory "I have to admit 'Verstaadt I admire you a little. The viciousness and cunning you used to orchestrate my enslavement was a thing of beauty. However you forgot one thing" "What is that?" "Don't. '''FUCK. ME'."'' ---Thruum to Verstaadt before killing him. Following their escape, the gladiators quickly resorted to a military caste system to survive, with Thruum as their General. During this time they were forced to live off of the harsh and bitter land, each of them were forced to learn the neccesary skills to survive, predominatly : Archery, Pathfinding, Foraging, Survival, and dowsing. In addition to these skills Thruum began training them in a highly disciplined fashion in an attempt to form them into the basis for an army to retake his home. Towards that end Thruum began leading raiding parties into various settlements and business in the region, primarily to secure weapons, supplies, and to free any slaves he encountered to bolster his numbers. This lifestyle continued for 3 years until in the year 1772 AGC his forces grew too numerous to live solely off the land. As fortune would have it, they were shortly approached by a benefactor in the form of a young Elven noble named Borgen. Borgen controlled a large area of fertile farmland near to the Sky Valley, known as the "Fertile Hills" region, a rare and valuable commodity. However he was unable to properly defend the entirety of his estate, and sought to employ the newly formed army to serve as a guard force until a more permanent solution could be made. Finding a fast friend in the young elf, and seeing the wisdom of the arrangement, Thruum agreed to his proposal and by the beginning of the year 1773 AGC he had fully relocated his troops into the Fertile Hills. After spending approximately six months fortifying the estate, and training an additional contingent of mercenaries hired by Borgen as well as his continuing raids, Thruum's forces had grown to approximately 800 men and women.It was at this time that Thruum began to include Borgen in his council. Borgen was shocked to learn that Thruum was planning a full scale invasion of what was considered at the time one of the most unassailable regions of the continent, but was quickly swayed and pledged his full support to his friend. Thruum was eager to begin his conquest of the outlying regions of the Sky Valley, however Borgen urged a more tempered pace. Borgen feared that if they began the march now they would expose their flank and supply lines to raids, and proposed the taking of the Iron Keep. Eager for revenge against his betrayer, Verstaadt, he immediately began drawing up the plans to take the keep. with the hope of keeping the keep largely intact and ideally of winning the majority of the force stationed there to their side, a plan to enter the keep covertly and killing the current leader was hatched by Borgen. The plan called for a small strike team, lead by Thruum to approach the keep under the cover of night. While the bulk of the team waited outside the main wall, Voporal would enter in sand form via a small 15 foot long pipe used to dump excrement from the main guard post along the wall. Upon reaching the top Thruum would quietly dispatch the guards stationed there, and open a small hidden door in the outside wall. After letting his team in they would enter the main keep through a hidden entrance into the dungeons that Thruum often utilized during his stay Desert Warfare "So you are the Dragon of the Dunes. Odd, I'd always heard rumor that you were quite beautiful" "And you must be The Sand Wraith. Funny, the myths about you state that you are in fact a man." "Ah, you'll pay for that." "I certainly hope so." -Thruum Kor'ush and his Rival È''pice Douce'' ''Homecoming'' "So my love, this barren piece of land is what our men have been dying for is it?" "Yes, and I've never seen anything so beautiful" -An exchange between Èpice Douce and Thruum Kor'ush Leader. Ruler. Hero. Tyrant. "How far would you go to root out a traitor? Would you kill an innocent on the risk they were guilty?" "Yes." "Even if it was me?" "Especially if it was you." -An argument between Èpice Douce and Thruum Kor'ush Exile "I broke their shackles, gave them hope! I freed them from a tyrant!" "Now free them from yourself!" -Thruum Kor'ush and Borgen before the former's Exile The Merry Band "I don't know about having him along Merina...he seems a rather shifty fella." "Oh my gods! Gulstaf did you just make a joke! My heart may just stop!" "I'll try not to make a habit of it, can you imagine me as a bard?" "I can see it now: Gulstaf the Entertainer!" -The Halflings Merina and Gulstaf on Thruum Kor'ush Schism "Voporal, I've always defended you. I have been as good a friend as I know how, but this time you've gone too far. "You can forgive me though can't you Merina? You can forgive anyone!" "Not this time Voporal, I'm sorry but not this time!" -Merina and Thruum Kor'ush's last conversation Despair "Ah Voporal my old friend, what will you have?" "B-bring me five of...whatever the hell that is." "Five?" "What, Did I stutter!?" "Well...yes actuall-" "Just bring me the damn drinks!" -A bartender in Riverskin and Thruum Kor'ush Mephisto Unbound "I. AM. ''UNLEASHED''"' -Mephisto after being freed from the Voidheart Blade Mourning A Link to the Past The Resurgent Dervish ''"Stagnate no longer in the sandstorm of your past. Cast off the stench of drink, be no longer timid and meek. Destroy those who oppose you, and lead those who doubted. Show them." "Show them what?" "Glory." -The sentient Cloak Zax whispering to Thruum Ko'rush Category:Characters